Mongane Wally Serote
Mongane Wally Serote (born 8 May 1944) is a South African poet and novelist.Mongane Wally Serote, Poetry International. Web, Dec. 3, 2012. Life Serote was born in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, South Africa. He went to school in Alexandra, Lesotho, and Soweto. He first became involved in the Black Consciousness Movement when he was finishing high school in Soweto. His presence in that town linked him to a group known as the "township" or "Soweto" poets, and his poems often expressed themes of political activism, the development of black identity, and violent images of revolt and resistance. He was arrested by the apartheid government under the Terrorism Act in June 1969 and spent nine months in solitary confinement, before being released without charge. He went to study in New York, obtaining a Fine Arts degree at Columbia University, before going to work in Gaborone, Botswana, and later London for the African National Congress in their Arts and Culture Department. After contributing poems to various journals, in 1972 he published his first collection, Yakhal'Inkomo. He was a Fulbright Scholar and received a fine arts degree from Columbia University in 1979. He was not able to return to South Africa and he began a life in exile, living in Botswana and London, where he was involved in the Medu Art Ensemble. He has served as chair of the parliamentary select committee for arts and culture, and is currently the CEO of Freedom Park, a national heritage site in Pretoria opened in 2007.http://www.sa-venues.com/attractionsga/freedom-park.htm Recognition Yakhal'Inkomo won the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize in 1973. In 1993, Serote won the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. In 2004, he received the Pablo Neruda Award from the Chilean government. Publications Poetry *''Yakhal’inkomo: Poems''. Johannesburg: Renoster Books, 1972. *''Tsetlo''. Johannesburg: Ad Donker, 1974. *''No Baby Must Weep''. Johannesburg: Ad Donker, 1975. *''Behold Mama, Flowers''. Johannesburg: Ad Donker, 1978. *''The Night Keeps Winking''. Gaborne, Botswana: Medu Art Ensemble, 1982. *''Selected Poems''. Johannesburg: Ad Donker, 1982. *''A Tough Tale''. London: Kliptown, 1987. *''Third World Express''. Cape Town: David Philip, 1992. *''Come and Hope With Me''. Cape Town: David Philip, 1994. *''Freedom Lament and Song''. Bellville, South Africa: Mayibuye Books / Cape Town : David Philip, 1997. *''History is the Home Address'' (epic). Roggebaai, South Africa: Kwela Books / Plumstead, South Africa: Snailpress, 2004. Novels *''To Every Birth Its Blood. Johannesburg: Picador, 1978; London: Heinemnn, 1981; New York: Thunders Mouth Press, 1981. *''Gods of Our Time''. Randburg, South Africa: Ravan, 1999. *''Scatter the Ashes and Go''. Braamfontein, South Africa: Ravan, 2002. *''Revelations''. Johannesburg: Jacana, 2010. Non-fiction *''On the Horizon''. Fordsburg, South Africa: Congress of South African Writers, 1990. *''Hyenas'' (essays). Florida Hills, South Africa: Vivlia, 2000. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Mongane Serote, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Feb. 11, 2015. See also *List of South African poets References External links ;Poems *Mongane Wally Serote (South Africa, 1944) at Poetry International (5 poems) * Mongane Walle Serote b. 1944 at the Poetry Foundation ;About *Mongane Wally Serote at South African History Online Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:South African poets Category:Anti-apartheid activists Category:People from Johannesburg Category:Golden Wreath laureates Category:20th-century poets Category:African poets writing in English Category:English-language poets Category:Poets